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Posted October 27, 2012 11:29 pm - Updated December 18, 2012 09:10 am

Frank Denton: Creating civility in Camden County

JASON PRATT/The Times-Union -- 04/23/08 -- Frank Denton was photographed in the Times-Union photo studio on April 23, 2008. That same day it was announced that he will be the full time Editor of The Florida Times-Union. (The Florida Times-Union, Jason Pratt)

Special to The Times-Union The billboard on I-95 in Camden County, Ga., rankles some in the community.

A couple of miles north of Georgia Exit 3 on I-95 northbound is a jarring billboard, with two bold images — the Statue of Liberty on one side and the old Soviet communist hammer and sickle on the other.

In between are these words: “Nov. 6 You Decide America’s Fate. Vote Republican.”

The billboard, paid for by the Camden County Republican Party, is rankling some of the surrounding community, not because of its advocacy or even its accuracy, but because of its tone, its … well, demagoguery.

“Thousands of cars go past that billboard, and all it does is confirm what people think of the Deep South — that just a bunch of ignorant rednecks live around here,” said Dave Southern, a marketing executive who retired to Camden County from Atlanta. “If someone is looking to relocate their business or retire here, how welcome do you think they’re going to feel?”

Southern is a Democrat, so you’d expect him to dislike the billboard, but what about Republican Charlie Smith?

“There’s obviously a tea party in Camden County,” Smith said, “and a right-wing component comprised of probably fewer than 7-8 people is totally responsible for that billboard. No one disagrees with their right to take that position, but I draw the line when someone implies that, if you don’t vote Republican, you’re a communist. I’m totally offended by that billboard.”

The bond between Southern and Smith and about 150 other members of the Coalition for a Better Community has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with citizenship and creating a public life worthy of Camden County.

As a group, they don’t have an opinion about whether Democrats would re-create the Stalinist Soviet Union, but they do believe citizens should be able to discuss and resolve public issues civilly — without yelling, name-calling, hysterical accusations or meanness.

The coalition is a two-year-old project that emerged when some citizens became disgusted over rancorous and mean-spirited meetings of the St. Marys City Council. When some newcomers were elected, Southern said, the “native sons” they ousted became obstructionist. “Their primary purpose was criticizing, interrupting, being out and out rude. It was an atmosphere where nothing could get done. So the council got adversarial and took on an attitude of their own. They lobbed grenades at each other, wrote letters to the editor about each other. Personal relationships were really ruined. It was ridiculous. It was childish.”

So in summer 2010, Elaine Powierski, a retired health care executive, and a couple of friends had lunch and decided “something had to be done.”

“How do we build a better community?” Smith asked rhetorically. “One of the ways is to treat each other verbally and intellectually with respect, rather than show toxic disdain for each other.”

The core group involved others and began to organize. They were encouraged when their research found other civility efforts around the country. It took a while get traction, but they organized educational forums, started a website (coalitionforabettercommunity.org), met with community leaders and organizations, created brochures and slide shows, held a candidates forum, staffed booths at public events and wrote letters to the editor of the local newspaper, the Tribune & Georgian. They created civility awards for champions who stepped forward.

And as the project became established, the coalition expanded the definition of civility beyond good manners and tolerance into other areas, such as anti-bullying among young people. Some kids formed anti-bullying clubs in schools. “We gave them T-shirts,” Southern said, and a fifth-grade girl got one of the civility awards.

Smith, the Republican, is now president of the coalition. Powierski, the Democrat, is secretary/treasurer — “$321 in our checking account.” Southern is events chair.

The movement reached maturity this past summer when coalition leaders went to four local governing bodies — the Camden County Board of Commissioners and the mayors and city councils of Kingsland, St. Marys and Woodbine — and asked them to pass and individually sign a joint resolution declaring the county a “model county of civility” and last summer as “the summer of civility.” All approved it.

In contrast to the Grover Norquist pledge against tax increases signed by many politicians, the joint resolution included a pledge to “maintain the following standards of behavior and decorum in order to build relationships of trust:

1. Act and speak respectfully toward all others, respecting the views, opinions, and perspectives of all council members, staff, and members of the public.

2. Maintain an atmosphere of tolerance that fosters thoughtful deliberations of the measures under consideration and encourages citizen participation.

3. Be willing to keep an open mind to consider all possibilities.

4. Attempt to find common ground with those having different opinions.

5. Value the process of sharing ideas as well as the results.

6. Take responsibility and be accountable for our words and actions.

To a person, all of the elected officials signed the pledge.

As for that I-95 billboard, Smith said, the coalition wrote a letter to the local editor “commenting on the fact that billboard would not help Mitt Romney get elected president, but it would do irreparable harm when it came to sustainable economic development in Camden County.”

And they got their own billboard, donated by Vista Outdoor Advertising: “Practice civility every day,” it says, in various locations around the county.

Just so no one misses the message, the coalition asked store owners to put little versions of the sign in their windows. “We have not gotten one pushback when we asked merchants to display those signs,” Smith said, and there are perhaps 250 of them around the towns.

So, has all this work made any difference to public life in Camden County? Coalition leaders are quick to say it’s a work in progress that demands eternal vigilance.

But, yes, they’ve made a difference.

“We’ve done some soul-searching,” Powierski said. “All elected officials are aware of us and what our expectations are. The tone of St. Marys council meetings is much better. The bickering has subsided. And we’ve made some progress to get our economic-development group to work together better. Things definitely have improved.”

“There’s no question that the rhetoric at the government level has improved,” said Southern.

In an email to Melissa Ross of WJCT, Southern wrote of the coalition’s work: “There has been a significant improvement in the political discourse, especially during the past year. At first, there were very vocal critics of the coalition, but after we sponsored some educational events and began identifying people who have stepped forward as examples of civility along with some specific results they’ve achieved, the tide has gradually turned.”

Southern’s email was in reaction to a panel discussion Ross hosted on WJCT-TV and radio as part of a project on civil discourse organized with the Times-Union, the OneJax Institute, the University of North Florida and the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission.

While we all want to raise the level of public discussion and cooperation, the T-U’s particular interest is improving the decorum of the user comments on Jacksonville.com. While the vast majority of comments are constructive, interesting or, at least, harmless, we work to control the noxious trolls.

They already are obligated to respect our “terms of service,” but instead maybe we ought to make them sign the Camden County pledge.